Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny performed during the Super Bowl halftime show on February 8 at the Bay Area’s own Levi Stadium. Bad Bunny is a global phenomenon, consistently ranking among the most-streamed artists in the world and selling out arenas. On Spotify, he rakes in 100 million monthly listeners, helping to bring Latin American music into American and global culture.
The stage for his Super Bowl performance was decorated with dancers dressed as sugarcane plants, the crop that has historically been grown on the island of Puerto Rico by enslaved laborers. Bad Bunny’s performance centered around a main theme of love, with a real couple getting married during the 13-minute set, a message on the stadium screen that read “The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love,” and both Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin’s surprise musical guest appearances. Mateo Gonzalez, co-leader of Latinos Unidos and a senior at the School, remarked that the performance promoted “broader themes of unity across race and age.”
Bad Bunny used his platform during the Super Bowl as a way of advocating for political issues that face Puerto Rico to this day. Under jurisdiction of the U.S. but categorized as a U.S. territory, the island has faced chronic blackouts due to its neglected electrical grid. Bad Bunny performed his song El Apagón (“The Blackout”) while dangling from an sparking electrical tower and holding the Puerto Rican independence flag, which features a lighter shade of blue than the American commonwealth’s official flag. Ricky Martin performed a ballad-style rendition of the song “Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii” (“What Happened to Hawaii”), a song pushing back on U.S. imperialism, from Bad Bunny’s latest album. In addition, he ended the show with the statement “God bless America,” after which he listed almost every country across North, South, and Central America.
The halftime show drew in up to 135 million viewers, even though critics warned an all-Spanish set list might alienate English-speaking viewers. Right-wing media company Turning Point USA hosted their own halftime show advertised as an all-American, Christian alternative (Bad Bunny is a Catholic and an American citizen by birth). However, the majority of Americans tuned into the Bad Bunny show.
Overall, Bad Bunny performed a unique Super Bowl halftime show that will serve as a standout cultural event from 2026. He’s an engaging performer at the peak of his career who deserves recognition by more people.